Contact Improvisation
Earthdance
is an arts, dance, & movement organization and retreat center in Western Massachusetts, on unceded, ancestral Nipmuck, Pocumtuc and Wabanaki Confederacy Land. Earthdance welcomes guests from around the world to engage in events that center movement and embodied practice, Contact Improvisation, and collaborative art making.
The staff and board of directors are committed to an organizational culture that values interdisciplinary collaboration, improvisational community building, and ongoing devotion to equity, access and direct response to the realities of a greater socio-cultural landscape.
Earthdance is dedicated to building awareness of sustainable living and community building; in addition to arts-focused programming, the facility is available for partnerships with other organizations, institutions, festivals, and rentals that align with Earthdance’s values and culture.
Classes & Workshops
Contact Improvisation
Artist Residencies & Retreats
Community
Earthdance Events
For more events see the full calendar >
Queer CoCo Jam! with Olive Frank & Sarah Zucchero
September 19th - 22nd, 2024
Queering CI & Embodying Queer Joy In this year’s Queer CoCo Jam, we’ll explore what it’s like to center Queer Joy, liberate ourselves, our bodies, and our relationships from supremacist narratives, and investigate what it means to queer contact improvisation. Let us infuse queer joy into our bodies and our...
Nomadic College! October 1st – 14th – Register Now!
October 1st - 14th, 2024
The NC is an itinerant school for the principle study and application of The Axis Syllabusⓒ. Rather than a festival, or celebration, The NC is what it's title suggests, an intensive study context. The study of the AS is meant to empower the individual to defend and promote their own health and the health of those they might be responsible for, in other words to sponsor responsible autonomy.
Fall Jam with hosts Yun Lee and Jonah Leslie – Register Now!
October 17-20th & Integration Days 20th-22nd, 2024
Atmosphères We invite you to perceive atmospheres: to listen to what the space is calling for before dialing up, down or sideways. Where are the energies percolating? How do we support these shifts? This season’s gathering proposes an orientation towards plurality: creating an environment that tunes into shifting of states...
Gratitude COCO Jam – Register Now!
November 28 - December 1st, 2024
What is a CoCo Jam? Community Collaborative Jams are a new and unfolding program concept at Earthdance which launched in early 2022. This new programming thread was driven by the desire for more opportunities to dance CI and to connect with the community in smaller containers. Similar to Seasonal Jams, the...
Second Sunday Jam
2nd Sunday of the Month: Class at 5pm, Potluck at 6:30pm, Jam at 7:30pm
Bring your movement gifts to share along with a yummy dish to nom on after class. Let's commune and practice during our sweet jam. And, relax together in the sauna while we rest our bones. Registration not required.
Biodanza Workshop with Caroline Churba
Wednesday, September 25th, 6-8pm Workshop, 8pm Potluck
Life is revealed thru movement to music. Biodanza is a form of community dance in the sense that "dance" represents movement as an expression of emotions. The difference with other forms is that the Biodanza Facilitator invites the class to simple, everyday movements such as walking, breathing , resting as a group activity.
An Introduction to Authentic Movement with Carolyn Shakti Sadeh
Sunday, September 29th, 2024 - Workshop 3-6pm, Potluck 6pm
Authentic Movement, is a practice grounded in the relationship between a mover and a witness, was developed by Adler in the early 1980s, evolving from her studies with Mary Whitehouse and John Weir, as well as her early work with children diagnosed with severe autism. Different teachers of this early form of Authentic Movement offer their evolving perspectives in unique and diverse ways.
Tango Fusion for Improvisational Dancers with Daniel Trenner and Erica Roper
Sunday, October 27th, Workshop 3-5pm, Potluck 5:30-6:30pm, Costume Party 7-9:30pm
Contact Improvisation and the Argentine Tango are two improvisational forms and emerging dance vocabularies gaining worldwide popularity. They have vastly different roots, and yet have many interesting intersections which offer opportunities for dancers of each form to expand their social consciousness and movement skill sets. They are both forms which have performing arts and social trajectories, offering their dancers a wide range of explorations in which to build dance as both an art form and a social container.
For more events see the full calendar >
Independent Events
Touch&Play Bare Bones: Community Gathering
November 21 - 24, 2024
– Only for those with Previous Touch&Play Experience – This is a time where we dive into ourselves to strip away, distill and keep only those things that will help us make it through to the light on the other side. Our Bare Bones.
For more events see the full calendar >
More Ways to be Here
Host Your Event
With a unique combination of mixed-used indoor & outdoor facilities, Earthdance provides an ideal setting for workshops, conferences, weddings, and special events that seek a combination of focus, celebration, and intimate connection.
Private Retreats: Earthdance is a beautiful and inspiring place to rest & retreat.
Mineral Collecting: Visit the old Betts Mine site to look for minerals.
Experiences
The Value of Earthdance
A relaxing and rigorous environment, that values the pace of the body and the richness of the soul.
Lila H.
What I Learned
Inspired by a community of teachers dedicated to seeking the moving and sublime truths of existence I learned to call on my name as Artist and Dancer.
Michelle L.
Why I Donate
Earthdance is a gem in the firmament! It holds space for deep exploration of one’s current investigation and supports our light spirit as well.
Ted J.
I Love
Part of my joy is just knowing that it’s here, even if I don’t use it as much as I would like. It’s like a local home of the larger dance community. A place to meet and re-meet friends. A place to get physical contact in times when that’s missing from my life – a connection. A place to express emotion. A place I’m proud to introduce people to as a physical center for my community of people. It allows people to have a place for the stream of community members that come and go through out lives. A place of nurturing – be it food, touch, talk, dance.
Anonymous.